Bianca Perez poses in front of “The Disruptor.” (Photo: Michelle Wang/UIC) Listen to story summary

When you walk past the Rafael Cintrón Ortiz Latino Cultural Center at UIC, you can now borrow a pair of wings.  

Three butterfly-wing paintings make up a new art installation near the pollinator garden that Heritage Garden students and staff at the center have maintained for over a decade. The butterfly wing art continues the tradition of cultural and environmental sustainability.  

Rosa Cabrera, executive director of the center, said the art installation was designed by three local artists — including UIC alum Alonzo Zamarrón — to reaffirm the center’s focus on environmental and social justice. The wings are slated to remain for at least a year.  

“Connecting environmental and social justice go to the heart of our mission and practices to understand pressing issues affecting the Latine community,” said Cabrera.  

The three 8-foot-tall butterfly sculptures are accompanied with a sign that asks, “Which cultural worker are you?” Visitors will be invited to step into one of the displays to choose the identity that best reflects their role in their community.  

There’s “The Disruptor,” someone who “raises awareness of historical and current inequities,” paired with the red-spotted purple butterfly. The monarch butterfly is paired with “The Weaver,” someone who “builds cultural and intergenerational connections through shared lived experiences.” And the blue morpho butterfly signifies “The Visionary,” someone who “inspires transformative change rooted in hope.”  

Jaymie Franco poses in front of “The Visionary.” Carson Ornelas poses in front of “The Weaver.” Photos: Michelle Wang/UIC

The wings were unveiled at a celebration of the center’s 50th year. Fourth-year student Jaymie Franco posed between the blue wings of “The Visionary” butterfly. She said she chose that butterfly because it is native to Central America, where she has roots.  

“I think it’s a beautiful homage to Latino students on campus who want to feel represented by their college campus,” Franco said. “It’s really important that we connect horticulture, environmental justice and social justice.”  

Aleeya Sengdao, an academic advisor at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, posed for a photo in front of the bright orange monarch wings. When she walks past the installation this coming year, she will think of the students at UIC, she said.  

“It’s going to remind me of the students that I support and serve and, like butterflies, hope they fly and reach their goals and their dreams,” Sengdao said.  

The center aims to bring more art to campus this year and draw attention to the cultural center’s 50th anniversary. The artwork was partly funded through a grant from UIC’s Office of Sustainability.  

Jorge Mena Robles, the center’s associate director, said at this milestone, one of the center’s goals is to reconnect with the Latino student movement that gave rise to the center 50 years ago.  

“This unveiling of the butterfly project is the perfect continuation to the story of the Latino Cultural Center 50 years in,” Mena Robles said.  

Visitors look over archival material that the center hopes to have digitized. (Photo: Michelle Wang/UIC)

Another consideration, said Robles: What does it mean to have a longstanding cultural center on campus? The center has begun crowdfunding efforts to raise about $20,000 to hire three students to help digitize five decades of archival materials.  

These include historical papers from the 1970s when the center was just beginning, as well as items from student organizations affiliated with the center over the years, said Cabrera. There are also original materials from Rafael Cintrón Ortiz, the center’s namesake. He was a Puerto Rican UIC professor who supported the creation of the center and was an inspirational figure to UIC students.  

Cabrera said that, because UIC is a designated Hispanic-Serving Institution, it is particularly important for the center to preserve its historical archives and serve as institutional memory.  

“Students like to go through the archives and look at the history and things that have happened at UIC over all this time,” Cabrera said. “It’s a super important and timely project.”